Scarred Heart
by Ephereal
Summary: modern AU; Although he doesn’t look like the type to settle down, Roronoa Zoro has been married five times in his life. Zoro centric. Zoro/various.


**A/N:** Hey everyone! I know you're probably thinking, wait where are your sentences? Don't worry I'm still working on them but this idea just popped into my head and I really felt like writing it. It's my first One Piece oneshot ever and I hope I did it justice! This is kinda messy, seeing that I wrote it in the present tense. I really wanted to write something Zoro centric and idk this kinda came out of nowhere. I think I'm going to turn this into a project for OP characters, like "the five times this person has done this" sort of thing. What do you guys think?

Anyway, enough of my babbling. Please enjoy this oneshot!

* * *

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Although he doesn't look like the type to settle down, Roronoa Zoro has been married five times in his life.

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* * *

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The first time Zoro gets married is when he is four years old.

He can't for the life of him remember the girl's name, but he can recall long pink hair and bright blue eyes. She's the girl next door and little Zoro worships her (not that he'd ever admit it to her) with her scratched up knees, manly appetite, and a smile that screams _"adventure!"_

They spend most of their childhood climbing trees, playing tag, and wrestling—the pink-haired girl often beating Zoro because she was a good four inches taller than him.

"Shorty," she would tease causing Zoro's face to redden like a tomato and he would chase her around her front yard until they fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Just you wait until I get taller," Zoro would growl in his squeaky voice and the girl would laugh and laugh until Zoro reluctantly joins in, the two of them laughing until their mothers call them inside for dinner.

One day she's not there and Zoro waits anxiously on her porch. She finds him there in the evening, eyes half open and drool coming out of his mouth. She shakes him awake and gapes when he sees that she's in a fancy yellow dress with ribbons in her hair and looking like, looking like a _girl_. She blushes and pushes him off the porch when she notices his stare.

"I went to a wedding," she explains later when she's in her normal clothes. "My aunt got married." Zoro nods and bites into his rice ball trying to think of something to say.

"I don't get marriage," he finally says. She raises an eyebrow at him.

"It's 'cause you're a boy." Zoro sticks his tongue out at her and she returns the gesture. "Anyway being married is like making a promise." Zoro's ears perk up at this. Men make promises, Dad says. Zoro's definitely a man. "Between two people that like each other a lot." She makes various hand motions and stares at Zoro. "Get it?"

Zoro blinks at her. He nods. "Yeah I get it."

The next day he begs his mother to take him to the supermarket with her. She stares at him oddly but takes him anyway. As soon as they walk into the building, Zoro rushes to the little toy dispensers, quarters his father had given him jingling in his pocket.

His mother laughs, "Oh, _that's_ what you wanted," but Zoro ignores her mocking tone and stares at the toys intently until he finally finds what he wants.

Later he knocks on his neighbor's door and surprises her with two plastic rings. "Let's get married," he says determinedly. She laughs at him until she can barely breathe but just as Zoro is about to turn away she grabs one of the rings out of his hands and slips it on her ring finger.

"I do," she says cheekily.

They have a little "ceremony" in her backyard and her mom serves them apple juice and chocolate chip cookies. Zoro munches happily away and his "mother-in-law" coos at his cuteness. "My husband is shorter than me," the girl complains and Zoro tackles her to the floor.

(Two months later Zoro's mother dies and he and his father move away. Zoro sobs unabashedly when he sees the pink-haired girl waving furiously at him as they drive away, "Bye Zoro, bye Zoro," and Zoro waves back, their plastic rings glinting in the sun.

Years later, he still has that ring, somewhere in a box, in a cluttered closet, filled with memories of his childhood.)

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* * *

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The second time Zoro gets married is when he's nineteen and so in love it's ridiculous. Her name is Kuina and Zoro loves her dark eyes and their shared love for kendo. They met when Zoro was a freshman in high school and Kuina was a senior. He had foolishly challenged her, captain of the kendo club, to a duel. She beats him easily, wipes the floor with his face, leaving him humiliated in front of the entire school.

He vows to defeat her. She laughs at him.

He spends most of his high school life at her father's dojo. They fight every now and then and Zoro gets better every time, but never good enough to beat Kuina. Soon, their fights turn into talks and talks turn into dates, dates into kisses, and kisses into love.

Zoro gets her father's blessing and buys her a simple diamond ring with his savings, nothing fancy, but her eyes water and she calls it beautiful all the same. They get married under a cherry blossom tree, a small wedding with people that matter. They cut their wedding cake together, and Zoro doesn't think he's ever been happier.

He still goes to school under her orders and soon they find enough money to buy a small apartment. "It's perfect," she says and leans her head on his shoulder. Zoro grunts in response. They sit in their cramped bedroom and spend the nights talking about their future.

Actually, it's mostly Kuina that does the talking. Zoro just nods along, whatever makes her happy. All he wants is a dojo. "Maybe a couple of kids," she suggests. Zoro shrugs.

It really doesn't matter as long as they're together. They have all the time in the world. Some days Zoro will skip school and they'll spend their days in the park doing absolutely nothing. Every now and then Zoro will coax Kuina into sparring but somehow, even after five years of knowing her and her fighting style, he can't come close to beating her.

"Damned woman," he grunts wiping the blood from his mouth. Kuina bites the inside of her cheek to resist laughing aloud at her husband and kneels down to pat his green hair.

"It's okay. Second best isn't that bad." Zoro glares at her and pushes her to the ground.

"I _will_ be number one," he swears. She smiles coyly at him and Zoro kisses her fiercely, because damn her, he _hates_ it when she looks at him like that. She laughs into his mouth and they lay there for a while, not bothered enough by the world to move.

One day though, all their dreams, all their hopes of the future, shatter.

The phone rings three times before Zoro finally wakes up from his nap. He groggily answers it and his entire body freezes as the person's words finally sink into his brain - _"car accident – broken neck – nothing we could do – I'm very sorry Mr. Roronoa."_

Zoro hangs up hastily and flings the phone across the room with a pained yell. Kuina is dead, _Kuina is dead_, his wife, his love, his life. He sinks to the floor as the realization kicks in and huddles into a corner, body uselessly limp and brain devoid of thought.

It rains on her funeral. Lots of people are crying, but not Zoro. He stares solemnly at her tombstone. It's simple—her name, lifespan. There's also "The Greatest Swordsman in the World" written on there.

For a moment, Zoro is sorely tempted to tell people that it's swords_woman_. But he ends up doing nothing.

"It's okay to cry you know," his best friend whispers to him as he passes him a drink. Zoro only grunts at Luffy and chugs his beer.

"Here's to life and love," he mutters.

(He burns all of her things, except for their photographs and her prized katana. He attempts to give it back to her father, but the old man refuses. He leaves their apartment and moves in with Luffy.

He can't sleep properly for two months, dreams plagued by Kuina's face, Kuina's smile.

Zoro takes to heavy drinking after that. "Beer's my love now," he says to the people with scandalized faces. "Only love I need.")

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* * *

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Zoro's third marriage is a complete and absolute accident. He wakes up naked one day in an unfamiliar bed, head aching and ears ringing from a massive hangover. He groans as he rubs his eyes and tries to recall what he had done the previous night.

_Went to Sabaody Park with Luffy and his friends…got massively drunk…met hot woman…oh_. Zoro stares down at his right hand. A ring. A wedding ring. He'd taken off Kuina's a long time ago and judging from the slightly cheap quality of the metal, he knows that it must've been bought from here.

"Shit." He lies back on the bed and covers his face with his hands. This was great, absolutely great. He'd only come to Sabaody Park because Luffy had convinced him that he'd forget about his troubles, forget about life for a moment, forget about _Kuina_.

But now he'd managed to get himself even more trouble.

"Shit," he swears again, louder this time. He winces as his ears clench painfully. This really is a massive hangover. Somehow, he manages to get himself up and starts to walk towards the bathroom. Once he gets there he kinda gapes at the mirror.

"What the hell?" There's a message for him, written in bright red lipstick, a shade Zoro thinks should be familiar to him. He staggers closer to the mirror and the words become clearer. Zoro stares.

_Dear Zoro,_

_You've probably already forgotten about most of last night's occurrences. It's regrettable but understandable. You were quite drunk. Anyhow, I must say that I enjoyed myself immensely. You are a bit gruff, but otherwise very lovely company. I enjoyed your drunken chatter. You made me feel young again, if only for one night. I won't forget what you told me and I know you can't remember what I've told you. However, it matters not. Know that I appreciated it and I'm sorry that we got so out of control we managed to get married. I know how you feel about it. I've placed the appropriate divorce filing papers on the vanity. I'm good friends with a lawyer so the formalities should go smoothly. Thank you and farewell._

_PS. I do hope you find your happiness_.

(Zoro never saw this Nico Robin woman ever again. As she had promised, the divorce had been handled quickly and silently. For a moment, Zoro thinks that this wife would've been good for him—she seems to be a woman that can handle him, but quickly dismisses the thought.

"Oi." Luffy's friend Sanji stares at him strangely as they change. Zoro feels slightly self-conscious and shoves his shirt down his torso quickly.

"What?" he asks irritably. Sanji wordlessly walks over to Zoro and lifts his shirt back up, ignoring Zoro's indignant "Gwah!" He points at Zoro's lower back, somewhere Zoro couldn't see unless he was in front of a mirror.

"…Who's Nico Robin?" Zoro freezes. A grin begins to form on Sanji's face. Luffy walks in and whistles at Zoro's back

"Nice tattoo Zoro!")

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* * *

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Nami is the first girl Zoro ever gets into a serious relationship with. Sanji, who Zoro spends a lot more time with seeing as Luffy has run off to Aluburna to pursue a girl named Vivi, introduces the two of them one day.

When Nami sees Zoro, she immediately ignores Sanji's obvious flirting, and sits down next to him, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. "Hi Zoro-kun," she says breathily. Zoro raises an eyebrow at her.

"I don't like easy girls," he says bluntly. Nami's face twists in anger and she subtly kicks Zoro under the table. "Ow! Bitch!"

Sanji glares at Zoro. "Oi, marimo—"

"Don't call me marimo—"

"Stop," Nami commands and they both shut their mouths instantly, Sanji with hearts in his eyes, and Zoro with a scowl on his face. Nami smiles slyly at Zoro. "Let's go get a drink ne?"

And what kind of person would Zoro be, to say no to a beer?

Somehow she manages to steal his number out of him. "You're one manipulative bitch, you know that?" he states sulkily as she presses a piece of paper with her own number into his palm. She rolls his eyes and pats his shoulder.

"Don't call me on Sundays okay?" Zoro glares at her and resists the urge to strangle her pretty little neck.

"Who the hell says I'm calling you?!"

He calls her.

"I hate you," Sanji tells him flatly when Zoro dresses himself up for his date. Zoro rolls his eyes.

"You introduced us, you douche."

They date for about half a year. Zoro finds out very quickly that Nami is possibly the most irritating woman he has ever met in his life. Nami only smirks every time he tells her that. "You know you love me," she'd purr.

And dammit, he does. Not the way he had loved Kuina, he could _never_ love anyone the way he loved Kuina, but he loves the fire Nami sparks in him, that seemed to radiate off her, from her bright orange hair to her burning crimson eyes.

He's twenty two when she asks him to marry him. He chokes when she asks, first of all he's the man so he should ask, second of all – he's the _man_.

"Do stop being a baby," Nami cuts in through Zoro's ranting and kisses the tip of his nose quickly. Zoro growls but they schedule a wedding in July. It's a big shindig, surprising, considering how freaking stingy Nami is with money. She invites everyone in the entire world, and Zoro feels just a little bit uncomfortable as he leans in to kiss Nami.

It's not like he has much of a choice though.

They get a small house with a mikan tree and are happy for a few months. Then Nami starts staring at parental magazines and looking up baby names. She never says anything out loud, but Zoro can see it in her eyes; she really wants a baby.

Zoro tries his best, he really does. Because despite her bitchiness and manipulative ways, Nami was still his wife and he wanted her happy.

He smiles with her when she excitedly stumbles out of the bathroom, waving a positive pregnancy test in his face. She kisses him. "I hope he doesn't get your hair."

They get distressing news when they go to the hospital for Nami's ultrasound. Zoro's not a doctor or anything so he can't possibly understand what the doctor is trying to tell him. "How could it be gone? It was – " The doctor only shakes his head.

Nami doesn't eat anything for two days.

Sanji convinces them to go get a couple of tests and they both freeze in their seats when they find out that it's not Nami, it's Zoro, it's him. Zoro watches the emotion flash in Nami's eyes, relief because she can have a child, shock because her husband can't give her a child, before they slowly fade into a still dullness.

Zoro ends it before it can get worse. He can't give her what she wants. "I have no regrets," he tells her firmly as he places his wedding ring before her. Nami stares up at him before she lets out a choked sob and wraps her arms around his neck in a hug.

(Zoro still doesn't regret it, and even attends her second wedding two years later. Usopp seems like a good man, if not just a little bit of a coward, but they seem to suit each other well.

"Promise you'll be the godfather of Bellemere," Nami demands of him. Zoro shrugs. Usopp laughs nervously and rubs Nami's pregnant belly.

"She might end up being a Yasopp, dear."

Zoro grins at Usopp. "Hope he doesn't get your hair.")

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* * *

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Zoro's last marriage is something entirely different.

"Love sucks," Sanji deadpans as Zoro pours more beer into his glass. Zoro bites back a laugh before nodding in agreement. It wasn't nice to be an asshole to your friend when he had just gotten dumped. Sanji gives him a sour look. "Stop laughing at me,"

"I'm not." Zoro really does laugh when Sanji pouts at him and practically shoves his face in his beer glass. He doesn't know why he says what he says next, maybe he really is drunk, but he says them anyway:

"If you're really hung up about something like that, let's get married."

Sanji stares at him. Zoro takes another chug of his beer and stares back. Sanji makes an unintelligible garble in the back of his throat. Zoro blinks. "You okay?"

"You _moron_, " Sanji hisses. "Don't say stupid shit like that." Zoro laughs at him and takes his beer. Sanji glares at him. "I'm serious."

"So am I." All of a sudden Zoro feels uncomfortable, because Sanji is blushing and Zoro thinks that the tips of his own ears are red. Somehow he knows that Kuina laughing at him up there. They awkwardly fidget in their seats for a while before Zoro finally reaches into his pocket and takes out Kuina's old ring.

"Here," he says hurriedly and places the ring on Sanji's finger. Sanji stares at it for a moment before shaking his head.

"We can't. You know. People would –" Sanji looks solemn. Zoro scoffs. He leans over and shakes Sanji's shoulders roughly.

"To hell with what people think!"

Because this is Sanji. Sanji is his friend, Sanji can handle him, Sanji is fun, and heck, he's even pretty like a girl. And it shouldn't matter if he's a boy or not because Sanji makes Zoro feel like he's home.

"Oh." Now Sanji's _really_ blushing. Zoro blanches.

"…I said that out loud didn't I?" Sanji nods in confirmation. Zoro sighs. "Shit."

But Sanji just beams at him and wraps his arms around Zoro's neck, pulling him closer to his face. Zoro swallows, throat suddenly extremely dry.

"Fine then _hubby._ I accept."

Sanji's lips taste like salt and nicotine and alcohol. Zoro likes it.

("Just for clarification," Sanji mutters later when they're in bed and Zoro covers the two of them with the blanket. "I never said that I was the girl."

Zoro snorts. "You called me _hubby_."

_ "I was drunk dammit!"_ )

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**A/N:** Whoo. Yay for 3000ish words! :'D Anyway, concrit/comments are appreciated. Let me know if you think the whole "the five times this person did this" project is a good idea or not. I think I might have an idea for Robin so idk. Thanks for reading!

_-Shii_


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